A family is in mourning after two brothers, 33-year-old Juan Carlos Enriquez Rodriguez and 32-year-old Lionel Enriquez Rodriguez, were hit and killed in a car crash where a Sacramento police detective drove into them Tuesday morning.The crash happened on southbound I-5 near Sutterville Road in Sacramento around 6 a.m.Jessica Romero, the wife of Juan Carlos, said she is still coming to terms will the loss of her husband.”I’m in shock still. I haven’t processed it. It feels like a dream,” Romero said. “He was a blessing in my life, and he taught me so much about myself. We grew together, and I just can’t picture my life without him at all.”The California Highway Patrol said the driver of a pickup truck pulled over on the side of the road and possibly ran out of gas. Another car came to help, but that is when CHP said a Sacramento police detective driving an unmarked car crashed into the two men. One died at the scene and the other died at the hospital.Romero immediately recognized the pickup truck when she saw it on the news – it was Lionel’s. Romero said her next realization broke her heart.”I knew that Carlos would be there because they’re brothers and he would do anything to help his brother,” Romero said. “Always trying to help somebody, and if it wasn’t trying to help somebody, it was being there for somebody.”Romero described her brother-in-law as always laughing and as a loving father to his daughter. Now, the family, which mostly lives in Ventura County, is focusing on funeral arrangements and trying to figure out what exactly happened.Romero tried going to the crash site herself. While officers usually keep people away from the scene, Romero said they let her through for a moment.”They let me say goodbye to him. His body was still there, and they let me say goodbye. They took him, so I was really appreciative of that,” Romero said.Romero wants Juan Carlos to be remembered as both a family man and a dedicated union plumber. He leaves behind two children, a 6-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy. Romero also said Lionel leaves behind a daughter and a partner. “Life is not going to be the same without them,” Romero said.
A family is in mourning after two brothers, 33-year-old Juan Carlos Enriquez Rodriguez and 32-year-old Lionel Enriquez Rodriguez, were hit and killed in a car crash where a Sacramento police detective drove into them Tuesday morning.
The crash happened on southbound I-5 near Sutterville Road in Sacramento around 6 a.m.
Jessica Romero, the wife of Juan Carlos, said she is still coming to terms will the loss of her husband.
“I’m in shock still. I haven’t processed it. It feels like a dream,” Romero said. “He was a blessing in my life, and he taught me so much about myself. We grew together, and I just can’t picture my life without him at all.”
The California Highway Patrol said the driver of a pickup truck pulled over on the side of the road and possibly ran out of gas. Another car came to help, but that is when CHP said a Sacramento police detective driving an unmarked car crashed into the two men. One died at the scene and the other died at the hospital.
Romero immediately recognized the pickup truck when she saw it on the news – it was Lionel’s. Romero said her next realization broke her heart.
“I knew that [Juan] Carlos would be there because they’re brothers and he would do anything to help his brother,” Romero said. “Always trying to help somebody, and if it wasn’t trying to help somebody, it was being there for somebody.”
Romero described her brother-in-law as always laughing and as a loving father to his daughter. Now, the family, which mostly lives in Ventura County, is focusing on funeral arrangements and trying to figure out what exactly happened.
Romero tried going to the crash site herself. While officers usually keep people away from the scene, Romero said they let her through for a moment.
“They let me say goodbye to him. His body was still there, and they let me say goodbye. They took him, so I was really appreciative of that,” Romero said.
Romero wants Juan Carlos to be remembered as both a family man and a dedicated union plumber. He leaves behind two children, a 6-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy. Romero also said Lionel leaves behind a daughter and a partner.
“Life is not going to be the same without them,” Romero said.